A growing interest in low earth orbit satellites having a small form factor has led to an increase in both launches of the vehicles and the recognition that earlier techniques for manufacturing and control thereof are inadequate. While standardized to some extent, significant variations in design have taken hold in this industry.
Due to their smaller size, cubesats generally cost less to build and deploy into orbit above the Earth. As a result, cubesats present opportunities for educational institutions, governments, and commercial entities to launch and deploy operable satellites for a variety of purposes with fewer costs compared to traditional, large satellites. When assembled, the core of a satellite is a collection of parallel computer boards that mount in stacked fashion within the rectangular cavity of the satellite shell or frame 10, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Connections between boards 30 traditionally have been accomplished by a connection bar 20 that was placed between each board 30 to bridge to the next board—above and below. As additional boards 30 are added to the stack, they are connected in series forming a stacked assembly of individual boards. Each board provides additional resources and/or functions to the satellite and the assembly is complete only when each of the boards 30 required for the operation of the satellite are properly positioned and fixed within the satellite frame 10.
In particular, during manufacturing, sub-assemblies are often constructed separately and then combined into the final product. A stack may involve three or more subassemblies each including one or more semiconductor chips (e.g., Application Specific Integrated Circuits—ASICs) for selective digital processing, memory and the like. Some subassemblies are boards with specialized components such as radios, sensors, camera elements, optics and associated controlling electronics. Before final assembly into the stack, each subassembly and/or board is individually tested. Once the full stack is assembled, the operation of the individual boards is again tested, and the entire stack is tested to insure operation within a design specification.
There were several difficulties encountered by this approach. To begin, if testing of the full assembly revealed a single board defect, the entire stack would necessarily require disassembly, a time consuming operation. In addition, assembly would often involve a selected order or arrangement of boards, determined by the individual functions of the selected boards. This removes flexibility and limits customization of the satellites which may impact their market value.